Eshet Chayil: A Hebraic Perspective

We have heard so much about the Proverbs 31 woman who does it all. She is the golden girl of the Bible. While we don't hear much about ladies like Ruth, Tabitha, Mary, Abigail, Shiphrah, Puah, Huldah, Leah, or Jael we know the job description of Proverbs 31 all too well. One cursory reading of her accomplishments can feel wholly overwhelming. We have heard that it's a checklist and felt overwhelmed at the amount of things to do. Get up early. Go to bed late. Work all day. Make clothes. Invest money. Cook the meals. Plant a vineyard. Help the poor. Sew a quilt.

Did you know this is not how YHWH intended this passage to be read? A lot of this poem gets lost when it is translated into English and the several thousand years between when it was written and the present hasn't helped either. I think it's time to set aside this view of Proverbs 31 and take a look at it from a Hebraic perspective.

A couple of things we miss:

This is a poem, not a to do list.

This was told to a man.

Eshet chayil usually gets translated something like, "virtuous woman," "good wife," "a capable wife," or a "wife of noble character." And this really, really shortchanges this poem. Firstly it should be translated woman or female, as in whether or not you are married. Second, chayil would be better translated as valor (you know, how they translate the word when they talk about men). Other meanings of chayil include strength, ability, wealth, and force.

When was the last time someone encouraged you to get out there and be a force?

Eshet chayil = a woman of valor.

Verse one of the chapter starts mentioning that King Lemuel's mother told it to him. Not to his sisters. Not to her daughter in law. To him. So right off the bat we can tell that this is not a list of instructions or a checklist of what to get done in a day. In fact, each line of the poem (starting in verse 10) starts with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Sort of like, 'A is for Awesome, B is for Brilliant, C is for Courageous,' except much more eloquent.

But why is she telling this to a male? Verse 1 also mentions that his mother used this to discipline him. I don't know about you but I have one guess as to when this reprimand came out. We don't know for sure, but it sounds like when Lemuel was disrespectful his mother made him listen to this. When he was rude to a female servant or teacher she told him this. When he picked on his sisters or an aunt, this got brought up. Can't you hear the frustrated yell of a mother, "Who can find a woman of valor?! Are you kidding? Look around you, we're everywhere!"

In traditional Judaism, Eshet Chayil is used to praise a woman of valor before the Shabbat meal. It is said or sung by the husband or father in the household to his wife and daughters. He does it to praise them. He is not handing out things to do (it is Shabbat, after all), or pointing out the areas the women fell short in this week. He is praising them. 

That's what the queen mother was doing too. Praising women of valor. She was not only pointing out how hard the women in his life worked, but that they did it with excellence and deserved to be praised. And that's what she was teaching her son as well. To praise the women in his life. It's time we took back eshet chayil and woman of valor and used them to compliment each other.

Make your first Etsy sale? Eshet chayil. Decide to finish your degree? Eshet chayil. Get your Shabbat prep done an hour ahead of time? Eshet chayil! Go for a run today? Eshet chayil. Make all your free throws in a basketball game? Eshet chayil. Accomplish your goal of reading the Bible in a year? Eshet chayil! Publish your first article? Eshet chayil.

This is not a checklist. Just as examining the life of a friend is a celebration of her accomplishments and talents, not a to do list for me. Can I be inspired by her? Absolutely. Do we have a few things in common? Probably. Should I attempt to squeeze her daily schedule into mine? No, thank you! In fact, the only instructive statement is in the very last verse. Proverbs 31:31 tells us to, "Honor her for what she has done." We should honor the women of valor in our lives (including yourself!) because YHWH does. Whether or not things have gone smoothly this week, YHWH praises you for the time, energy, and creativity you spent to bless your family and friends, to study His Word, and to practice righteous living. Even when things don't turn out perfectly! That's what YHWH does and that's what he is asking both women and men to do. To stop and say, "Eshet chayil." You are a woman of valor. You have ability. You are strong. You are a force. Eshet chayil.

Understanding the Golden Calf Incident of Exodus 32

Aside from the Creation account, the golden calf incident is probably one of the most well-known tales from the writings of Moses, and we've seen it depicted in the Ten Commandments movie. 

The story of the golden calf is one of the most dramatic and significant parts of Scripture. Usually, it is presented to us as a willful rebellion against the Living God, with the Israelites purposefully breaking the Covenant. But I'm not sure that's what they intended.

And when Aaron saw the golden calf, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to YHWH." -Exodus 32:5

Moses had been gone a long time up the mountain, and the people started to get nervous. Aaron made a graven image and announced they would worship YHWH with it. Scripture indicates that the Israelites had every intention of continuing to worship the Living God, but this good intention was a great abomination. Why? Because YHWH expressly prohibited carving the likeness of anything that He created some twelve chapters earlier in Exodus 20:4. By shaping a cow out of gold the Israelites were in clear violation of the Covenant, but they still meant to worship YHWH.

Why does YHWH have a problem with carved images of creation? This is how the Egyptians worshipped the demonic entities they believed to be gods. The sphinxes, tombs, statues of pharaohs, and occult symbols - those legendary architectural achievements - were used to worship false gods. Who built them? Likely the Israelite slaves.

Exodus 1:13 says the Israelites worked with bricks and mortar. They build up the ungodly society of Egypt, likely building homes, palaces, granaries, and temples as well as the famous occult symbols of the land. So when they made a golden cow, they were just doing what they knew. As much as they may have desired freedom the Israelites harbored a certain amount of love for the only land they had ever known. They missed the food, and many audibly expressed that they wished they had stayed there for the rest of their lives. The calf wasn't build because they didn't love YHWH, but because they also loved Egypt.

"Their abominations were a result of their misplaced love." -Hosea 9:10b

The Israelites committed the abomination of the golden calf by misplacing their loved. That is a scary idea. Love is a buzzword in mainstream religion and their answer is usually, "just love" in response to any sort of difficulty or challenge. I don't want to disregard love at all, because it is a fruit of the Spirit, but Scripture also says there are certain things we shouldn't love (such as the things of this world), and sadly we have all seen women get hurt when they misplace their love in a man who doesn't reciprocate or is abusive. Bad things happen when love is misplaced. And we can misplace our love when it comes to serving YHWH.

YHWH desires to be worshipped in very specific ways. It is not okay to mix in tradition, man's doctrines, or church beliefs, even if we mean well. The Israelites meant well when they mixed in ungodly Egyptian traditions into their worship of YHWH, and broke the Covenant. YHWH was so angry He was ready to wipe them out entirely, but Moses successfully interceded on their behalf. When we disregard YHWH's instructions we end up building an evil culture.

I think that's why the Israelites pleaded to YHWH to help when they were enslaved. Not just because the physical burden of slavery was harsh (though it obviously was), but also because the Egyptians had forced them to build up something against YHWH. I think that was the worst part of their slavery. If you've read this far, I'm guessing you don't want to build something against YHWH either. That's why it's so important that we keep the commandments and do what He says! That's true if we have good intentions for not following His instructions too. We need to keep the commandments even if they don't make sense to us or other people say it's okay to break them. Aaron was a leader in Israel, and there he was telling people that worshipping the golden calf was really worshipping the Living God. Please note that YHWH wasn't letting the others off because they had followed the directions of a leader...He was angry with all of them. It's not enough to 'mean well' and do whatever we please. That's how the abomination of the golden calf happened. That's how corrupt world systems are forged. That's how lies get mixed in with truth. Don't misplace your love into traditions. Enough with building things against YHWH.

Related posts:
Departing from the Sins of Jeroboam
Five Things Every Believer Should Know about Christmas
Key Differences Between the Levitical and Melchizedek Priesthoods

Four Distinctions We Need To Make To Understand Scripture

"Study to show yourself approved before YHWH, a workman that needs to not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." - 2 Timothy 2:15

Rightly divide the word of truth. This little verse has enormous ramifications. If you can rightly divide that means you can also wrongly divide. And since you have to study that means most of Scripture isn't readily understood in a cursory reading. And if you don't divide Scripture correctly you have good reason to be ashamed.

These distinctions I'm sharing with you today are just that: distinctions. They are different from the way most read Scripture. If we don't make these distinctions we will be left with huge passages of Scripture that are baffling and contradictory. But we know that YHWH's word is true and when we learn to divide correctly we find more of the treasures he has concealed for us in his word (Proverbs 25:2).

Israel vs. Judah

While the twelve tribes were united through King Solomon they split into two separate kingdoms under the reign of his son Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12. Ephraim was the strongest of the ten northern tribes and had been given the birthright to the name of Israel (see Genesis 48 when Jacob/Israel blesses Joseph's sons), so the Northern Kingdom was called Israel and the southern tribes banned together under their strongest tribe, Judah.

The Kingdom of Israel strayed from YHWH having only evil rulers that led the people into idolatry. The Kingdom of Judah did somewhat better at serving YHWH. Both Kingdoms eventually were exiled as punishment form YHWH; Judah was captive 70 years in Babylon before returning. The House of Israel has still not been regathered, its people scattered amongst every nation on earth (Micah 5:8).

Hebrews 8:8 - The day comes, says the Master YHWH, when I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah.

Restoring the two Houses of Israel and Judah back into one is a foundational theme of Scripture, and something all believers should long and pray for. But if we don't make the distinction of the split it is impossible to see.

Book of the Covenant vs. Book of the Law
The Book of the Covenant contains the instructions on feast days, the Sabbath, clean eating, and other instructions on how to live, while the Book of the Law is mostly instructions for the sacrificial system under the Levitical priesthood. Most translations of the Bible lump these together under the word "law" creating much confusion.

Galatians 2:16 - We are declared righteous by faith in Messiah and not by works of the law.

This verse is stating that the Levitical sacrificial system is inferior to the Messiah's sacrifice and cannot make people righteous. It is not saying that we are not to honor YHWH's instructions in the Book of the Covenant for how we live. If we don't treat these books as different, we get Covenant and priesthood very mixed up with terrible consequences of sin against YHWH.

Melchizedek Priesthood vs. Levitical Priesthood
Under the Levitical system only Aaron's descendants were allowed to serve as priests. No special exception was made for our high priest Yahusha. Psalm 110 says that his priesthood is of the Melchizedek order. This is not a carbon copy of the Levitical system with a new high priest. While the Levites needed the blood of bulls and goats, the Melchizedek priesthood's sacrifice is the Messiah.

1 Peter 2:9 - You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a set apart nation.

Melchizedek means 'King of Righteousness' so when Peter penned, "a royal priesthood," he wrote "a Melchi priesthood." He was talking about the Melchizedek priesthood, which is not limited to the tribe of Levi. YHWH calls all believers to participate in the priesthood under Yahusha.

Unclean vs. In Sin
A major theme of the book of Leviticus is clean and unclean. These are the world's oldest instructions on hygiene. A house could become unclean if there was a certain type of mold in it. A woman on her period was considered unclean. Cooking pots were unclean if a forbidden animal fell in. Touch a dead body made a person unclean. But please note, it was not a sin to be in an unclean state!

Matthew 8:3 - Yahusha touched him and said, "I am willing; be clean." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

The Messiah became unclean to heal this man with leprosy, but that was not sin. Yahusha did not sin or bend the rules of the Torah to heal this man. While you certainly can choose to sin in an unclean state, being unclean doesn't make you to sin. YHWH was not creating worthless hoops to jump through, but giving instructions on healthy living for his people. The Messiah upheld Biblical law regarding cleanness (see Luke 17, when he sent the ten former lepers to be pronounced clean by the priest, as Scripture instructs), just as he upheld the rest of the Bible.

Learning the differences in these concepts will give you a much better understanding of Scripture. It really amazes me how much more sense the Bible makes as I learn more of these truths.

Related posts:

Commandments or Traditions - Understanding the New Testament
The Three Types of Law in Scripture
Comparing the Melchizedek and Levitical Priesthoods

Hebrew Holiday Calendar Dates + Printable

The definition of Hebrew is 'one who has crossed over to the other side.' I think that's pretty fitting for the Feast days of YHWH. They're not exactly mainstream. They're about as opposite as possible from that. You don't celebrate the Feasts by accident. It takes deliberate intent and action to leave behind the celebrations of our culture. To cross over. Which is why I've made this printable. Take it and pencil it in on your calendar now, put in for vacation time now. You won't be sorry. It really is a privilege and joy to celebrate YHWH's festivals.

These are the traditional dates for the Feasts this year, used by most Messianic and Jewish groups. There is a lot of debate over how this mashes up with the Gregorian calendar so I can't say for certain that these dates are absolutely correct. The second set is inspired by teachings out of Torah to the Tribes. Study for yourself and prayerfully consider when to celebrate the Festivals of YHWH, and then do what you need to be able to celebrate by taking off work, rearranging vacation plans, etc. I don't know if either set is flawless, but we can be joyful that we are taking steps to honor the Word and keep the commanded Feast days.

So how does this work?

For the first set of dates, days start at sundown. Meaning Sukkot starts the evening of October 16 and ends at sundown on October 24.

You will also want to keep in mind that work is not permitted on certain days during the Festivals, similar to a special Shabbat. We should honor YHWH by planning ahead to be free from our professional and home duties on those days.

Passover No Work Days:
April 22 - April 24
April 29 - 30
Work is permitted only April 25 - 28.

Shavuot No Work Days:
June 11 - June 12

Yom Teruah No Work Days:
October 2 - October 3

Yom Kippur No Work Days:
October 11 - October 12

Sukkot No Work Days:
October 16 - October 17
October 23 - October 24

(Again, starting the evening of the first date, and ending the evening of the second date.)

The Torah to the Tribes dates in the second set are morning to morning, with the exception of Yom Kippur, which Scripture says is evening to evening.

Click below to download!

Printable calendar in white
Printable calendar in orange
Torah to the Tribes in white
Torah to the Tribes in orange

These are completely free for your personal use.